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Building a cell therapy company is hard. Building a genetically engineered iPSC therapy for the brain, on a preclinical budget, is one of the hardest translational problems in biotech. Every experiment has to move the program closer to an IND, or it's motion without progress.
That's the operating constraint Bilal Fares faces as CEO and co-founder of AzureCell, the University of Geneva spin-off engineering neuroprotective iPSC neurons for Parkinson's disease. In Part 2, he walks through how his team decides what to build, where AI and synthetic biology genuinely accelerate a CMC roadmap, and the four founder lessons he wishes he'd internalized earlier, including his conviction that scientists who use AI will replace those who don't.
Topics discussed include:
Smart insight: What separates successful biotech ventures from the rest? According to Bilal Fares, it is not just technical skill but mindset. First, choose a problem large enough to be worth the struggle. Second, try to “kill your solution as fast as possible”—engage experts, enter competitions, and seek brutal feedback early so you can pivot, improve, or abandon as needed. And finally, plan with the end (approval, patients, impact) always in sight.
If you enjoyed this, check out these episodes on cell therapy, where engineered cells can survive and do more than replace what's lost: Michael Rome's investor lens rounds it out for founders facing the same funding realities.
Connect with Bilal Fares:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/b-fares
AzureCell website: www.azurecell.co
Email: [email protected]
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Transplant iPSC-derived neurons into a Parkinson's brain and 97% die before they can restore function. Of the 3% that survive, most face the same pathogenic environment that killed the original neurons. This is the compounded biology and CMC problem defining CNS cell therapy today.
Bilal Fares, neuroscience entrepreneur and co-founder of AzureCell, is translating a University of Geneva discovery into a genetically engineered iPSC platform built to solve it: neurons that don't just replace what Parkinson's destroyed, but survive the fire that destroyed them.
Topics discussed:
Smart insight: The next generation of CNS cell therapy isn't only about neuron replacement. Bilal's thesis reframes transplanted cells as engineered biological factories inside the brain: producing neuroprotective proteins, modulating disease mechanisms in real time, and eventually enabling preventative treatment as manufacturing costs fall and safety matures.
If you enjoyed this, check out these episodes on cell therapy, where engineered cells can survive and do more than replace what's lost: Michael Rome's investor lens rounds it out for founders facing the same funding realities.
Connect with Bilal Fares:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/b-fares
AzureCell website: www.azurecell.co
Email: [email protected]
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How much of your research lives and dies on the bench? Not because the idea isn’t sound, but because building reproducible, scalable biomaterials remains an unsolved puzzle.
Jan Hunik and Matt Baker from MosaMatrix discuss the practical challenges and lessons learned from spinning out a biomaterials company from academia. They explore the importance of quality standards in biotech startups, building a team with complementary skills, and the realities of developing reproducible 3D culture systems for modern research.
Topics discussed:
Smart insight: The MosaMatrix team believes good materials are key to unlocking advances in drug discovery, cellular agriculture, and engineered living materials. Their story is a testament to how integrating rigorous science, business discipline, and a razor focus on real-world needs can create the foundation for lasting innovation in biotech.
If this conversation got you thinking about biomaterials, scale-out manufacturing, and what it takes to turn a chemistry breakthrough into a fundable company, these episodes explore the same ground from complementary angles.
Connect with Jan Hunik and Matt Baker:
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What if the real obstacle in 3D cell culture and tissue engineering isn't the cells, but the very ground they grow on?
For years, cell culture has relied on flat plastic and passive scaffolds. But biology doesn't happen on a petri dish—cells live in three dimensions, surrounded by a dynamic environment that talks back, adapts, and shapes development in ways static gels simply cannot.
That's the premise behind MosaMatrix, a novel hydrogel platform designed to transform how we grow cells, engineer tissues, and screen new drugs created by CEO Jan Hunik and CTO Matt Baker.
Topics discussed:
Smart insight: MosaMatrix validates its hydrogel not through internal R&D alone, but through direct collaboration with academic and industry partners — testing performance across cell types and culture media. This includes a ~50-company consortium building next-gen 3D cell culture tools and a new consortium improving kidney dialysis with living human cells. The partnerships surface real variables, like how much culture media composition affects results, that continually shape product development.
If this conversation got you thinking about biomaterials, scale-out manufacturing, and what it takes to turn a chemistry breakthrough into a fundable company, these episodes explore the same ground from complementary angles.
Connect with Jan Hunik and Matt Baker:
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In the biotech industry, advancing cell-based therapies is not just about innovation. It's about solving real gaps where conventional treatments fall short, especially against complex, aggressive tumors.
In this episode of the Smart Biotech Scientist Podcast, host David Brühlmann welcomes Jun Yung Woo, Co-Founder of AGEM Bio, who offers an in-depth look at the science and strategy behind engineered mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), with a focus on why glioblastoma is the right proving ground for the platform.
Topics discussed:
Smart insight: The shift Jun Yung articulates is from treating stem cells as the therapy to treating them as programmable therapeutic vehicles. Once you can reliably engineer, manufacture, and preserve their function, the limitation is no longer what the cell naturally does. It becomes what biology you can encode into it. Glioblastoma is the proving ground, and the platform's reach extends to liver cancers, sarcomas, peritoneal malignancies, and chronic inflammatory disease.
These episodes expand on the same themes of MSC biology, cell engineering, and the challenges of scaling consistent, functional cell therapies:
Connect with Jun Yung Woo:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/junyungwoo
AGEM Bio website: www.agem.bio
Email: [email protected]
Support the show
What if the answer to solid tumor therapy isn’t about making immune cells smarter—but about rethinking what a therapeutic cell can do For years, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have turned heads for their ability to home in on damaged tissue, yet their clinical utility has lagged behind the hype. What would it take to transform MSCs from passive healers into precision vehicles for next-generation cancer treatment?
This week, David Brühlmann sits down with Jun Yung Woo, Co-Founder of AGEM Bio, who’s devoted nearly two decades to decoding and reimagining the potential of MSCs. From engineering stress-resilient cells to pioneering dual-payload therapeutic platforms, Jun Yung Woo bridges fundamental biology and real-world clinical translation.
Topics discussed:
Smart insight: Jun Yung Woo challenges the rush toward bioprocess scale-up, arguing that a deeper understanding of cellular biology should come before manufacturing cells at scale. This episode explores how scaling the wrong biology can derail entire therapeutic platforms—and why aligning process development with cellular function may be critical for clinical success.
These episodes expand on the same themes of MSC biology, cell engineering, and the challenges of scaling consistent, functional cell therapies:
Connect with Jun Yung Woo:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/junyungwoo
AGEM Bio website: www.agem.bio
Email: [email protected]
Free 5-day email course, The CMC Failure Chain: the five recurring CMC mistakes that put your promising program at risk → Get it here
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Why does life-saving insulin cost hundreds of dollars a month for patients, when manufacturing costs are just a fraction of that price? What if the nonprofit model could change everything for affordable access?
In the pharmaceutical industry, affordability and access remain two of the biggest hurdles for patients, especially when the economics of essential medicines seem stacked against them.
Eric Moyal, founder of Project Insulin, is rewriting the rules of biosimilar development. Coming from a fundraising and nonprofit background rather than the pharma inside track, Eric built Project Insulin not to chase profits, but to deliver an essential therapy at a price real people can afford.
Topics covered:
Smart insight: Generic medicines should be affordable. Ensuring low-cost, accessible generics is essential to restoring the original balance between pharmaceutical innovation and public access, and it requires collective effort beyond any single player.
If you enjoyed this episode, you might want to listen to these within a broader set of discussions on biologics affordability, CMC strategy, and bioprocessing realities — from the economic barriers blocking patient access and regulatory decision-making for biosimilars, to CDMO selection for resource-constrained teams:
Connect with Eric Moyal:
Next step: If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast platform. By doing so, we can empower more scientists like you. Stay tuned for more inspiring biotech insights in our next episode.
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Insulin was first discovered over a century ago—yet in the United States, 1 in 5 insulin-dependent patients still ration their lifesaving supply. Why is a molecule so essential, and so well understood, still so out of reach for so many?
Eric Moyal, founder of Project Insulin, decided to challenge not just the science, but the business model itself. With a background in nonprofit fundraising—not drug development—he’s building a biosimilar insulin glargine and promising to sell it directly to patients at cost, insurance or not.
Topics discussed include:
Smart insight: A nonprofit approach to essential medicines could reshape the future for patients who depend on them. By removing shareholder expectations and focusing on affordability and access, leaders like Eric Moyal are proving new paths are possible—not through incremental science alone, but through bold re-imaginings of how science serves the public.
If you enjoyed this episode, you might want to listen to these within a broader set of discussions on biologics affordability, CMC strategy, and bioprocessing realities — from the economic barriers blocking patient access and regulatory decision-making for biosimilars, to CDMO selection for resource-constrained teams:
Connect with Eric Moyal:
Next step: If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast platform. By doing so, we can empower more scientists like you. Stay tuned for more inspiring biotech insights in our next episode.
Support the show
The cell and gene therapy industry faces massive hurdles—cost, scalability, and the need for highly skilled operators have historically limited the reach of these transformative treatments. advanced therapy medicinal products manufacturing innovation is urgently needed to overcome these challenges and unlock broader global access.
Farlan Veraitch, founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Ori Biotech, is leading the way in reimagining manufacturing platforms using automation, modularity, and digital transformation. His vision is redefining how cell and gene therapies are produced—from research labs to point-of-care hospital settings.
What’s inside:
Strategic insight:
The cell and gene therapy field needs to lower manufacturing costs and increase production. Focused, practical approaches are required to make these life-changing therapies more efficient, scalable, and accessible to more patients around the world.
Listen for practical perspectives on automation, digital tools, manufacturing infrastructure, and the future possibilities for decentralized, scalable cell and gene therapy production.
Connect with Farlan Veraitch:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/farlan-singh-veraitch-a677112
Email: [email protected]
Ori Biotech: www.oribiotech.com
Next step:
Need fast CMC guidance? → Get rapid CMC decision support here
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What if the simple act of opening an incubator could undermine the consistency of your cell therapy manufacturing process? Unlike traditional biologics, the moment cells leave their incubator, subtle shifts in temperature, CO₂, and pH can spiral into mission-critical variability, jeopardizing everything from product yield to therapeutic potency.
This episode features Farlan Veraitch, founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Ori Biotech. Trained at UCL’s Department of Biochemical Engineering, Farlan blends a bioprocess engineer’s mindset with hands-on experience scaling monoclonal antibodies, before pioneering the first-ever automation platform for embryonic stem cell culture. His drive for eliminating variability and designing systems that scale seamlessly from bench to bedside has informed ORI’s approach to modular cell therapy manufacturing.
What you’ll hear in this episode:
Strategic insight:
As cell and gene therapies push boundaries, manufacturing must keep pace with exponentially tighter requirements. Farlan’s journey highlights a universal lesson for scientists and engineers: process control is not just a technicality, but a necessity for reproducible, scalable, and commercially viable therapies.
If you’re grappling with process variability or looking for fresh strategies in cell and gene therapy development, this episode offers an inside view from a scientist who’s worked at the intersection of bioprocess, automation, and commercial translation.
Connect with Farlan Veraitch:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/farlan-singh-veraitch-a677112
Email: [email protected]
Ori Biotech: www.oribiotech.com
Next step:
Need fast CMC guidance? → Get rapid CMC decision support here
Support the show
From the publisher's feed
The go-to CMC and biomanufacturing podcast for bioprocess development scientists and CMC leaders scaling biologics into regulatory-ready therapies with less trial and…
Practical, execution-focused, and strategic guidance on CMC development, tech transfer, scale-up, GMP readiness, CDMO partnerships, and manufacturing economics for biologics, cell and gene therapies, cultivated meat, and biomaterials.
Hosted by Dr. David Brühlmann, CMC strategist, former Bioprocess Innovation Manager at Merck, PhD in glycoengineering, and close to 20 years of biomanufacturing experience. Smart Biotech Scientist delivers actionable insights for the people doing the hard work of turning promising molecules into scalable, regulatory-ready therapies.
This podcast is for you if:
What you will learn:
CMC strategy and regulatory planning, bioprocess scale-up from lab to clinical and commercial manufacturing, cell culture process development and media optimization, technology transfer best practices, CDMO selection and partnership management, hybrid modeling, manufacturing economics, continuous manufacturing, digitization, and Industry 4.0 in biopharma.
Top 10 life sciences podcast with 200+ episodes and guests from Merck, FUJIFILM Irvine Scientific, Cytiva, KBI Biopharma, Eppendorf, and biotech innovators worldwide.
New episodes released weekly. Subscribe and join 400+ biotech leaders already using these insights to accelerate development, reduce manufacturing costs, and de-risk scale-up.
Next Steps:
Get the 5-day CMC email course: https://smartbiotechscientist.com/#cmc
Visit the website: https://smartbiotechscientist.com
Email us: [email protected]

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